Feeding control means for harvesters



Oct. 3, 1950 J. R. WEST 2,524,151

FEEDING CONTROL MEANS FDR HARVESTERS FiM March 1, 1948 FIG. I

FIG. 3

IN VEN TOR. JAMES REX WEST ATTORNEYS Patented Oct. 3, 1 950 FEEDINGCONTROL MEANS FOR HARVESTERS James Rex West, Ottumwa, Iowa, assignor toDeere Manufacturing'Co Dubuque, Iowa, a

corporation of Iowa Application March 1, 1948, Serial No. 12,235

This invention relates to a harvester or like crop gathering machine andmore particularly to such machines adapted to harvest or gather stalksstanding in rows.

The ensilage harvester is typical of a machine in which the presentinvention provides an improvement. The ordinary type of ensilageharvester includes a wheeled frame that is propelled over the ground andhas gathering mechanism for operating on standing stalks growing inrows. The gathering mechanism includes a forwardly disposedstalk-severing means behind which is located a rearwardly extendingstalk passage including means for moving the stalks rearwardly from thesevering means to receiving means in which is located mechanism forreducing the stalks by cutting same into relatively short lengths. Thejunction between the stalk passage and the receiving means is ordinarilyin the form of a feed throat and includes mechanism for receiving thesevered stalks from the stalk passage and delivering such stalks to thereducing mechanism. After the stalks are severed and are carried up thestalk passage, it is desirable that they be presented 'butt end first tothe feeding mechanism, and for this purpose the conveying means in thestalk passage is constructed and arranged to carry the stalks upwardlyand rearwardly in generally upright positionwith their butt ends downsothat when the butt ends reach the end of the stalk passage they willtheoretically enter the feed throat butt end first. However, it is foundthat the theoretical results are not alwaysobtainable, mainly because ofthe variations in height to which the stalksgrow and to packing andtangling of the stalks because of the relatively heavy foliage thereon..v

According to the present invention, there is provided means forcontrolling the transfer of stalks from the stalk passage to the feedingmechanism, this means preferably taking the form of a retarder elementthat operates to retard the upper portions of the stalks whilepermitting the butt portions to proceed. An important object of theinvention is to provide the retarder element in the form of a swingingor yieldable device that will accommodate stalks of varying lengths.Another object is to arrange the retarder element in the feed throat insuch manner that it will provide a temporary or yield able barrier whichcan swing rearwardly in response to pressure exerted by the movingstalks, the element depending to a point sufliciently low .to be engagedby short lengths of stalks; A further object of the invention is toprovide the re- 7 Claims. (01. 56-419) tarder element in the form of aninclined door and to pivot same so that its own weight will keep it in alowered position from which it can move. rearwardly and upwardly as thestalks engagev 'it. A still further object of the invention is to]provide the retarder element as means that canbe readily attached toexisting machines of the" type referred to.

Other important objects and desirable features inherent in andencompassed by the inven-;, tion will become apparent to those skilledin the art as the disclosure is more fully -made of. a

preferred embodiment of the invention as set, forth in the followingdetailed description. and. as illustrated in the accompanying sheet ofdrawings, in which:

Figure 1 is a general plan view of amachine.

of the ensilage harvester type;

Figure 2 is an enlarged longitudinal sectional view taken substantiallyon the line 22.-2-2

of Figure 1; and

Figure 3 is a fragmentary cross sectional viewtaken on the line 3-3 ofFigure 2 and showing a portion of the structure which provides, a 1

stop or limit means for the retarderelement.

The invention is illustrated here as an attachment for or improvement onan ensilage harvester of well known construction such as, is.

shown in assignees co-pending application,

that the invention may assume.

The machine or harvester illustrated is shown, as having a main frame 10carried on a pair or ground wheels (only one of which is shown) andhaving a forwardly directed hitch frame portion l2 means of which theharvester may be connected to a tractor or other draft vehicle Theforward right hand I portion l2 by means of which the harvester maydesignated generally by the numeral l3, which-= operates, in the usualmanner to gather stalks orsimilar crop and convey the same rearwardly tofeeder mechanism contained in the housing 14 Which is disposed ahead ofa housing I 5 containing the usual reducing mechanism (not shown) in theusual manner.

The left hand end of the housing I5 is shown as conveniently driven bymeans of a rearwardly' extending propeller shaft IT appropriatelyshielded at I8 and connected by a transverse belt I9 to a shaft 20 fordriving the rotor (not shown) in the reducing housing IS. The drivingmechanism further includes a gear housing 2| from which drives may betaken to other operating parts of the harvester, the details of whichhave not been shown inasmuch as they are familiar and conventional.

The gathering unit may be of any well known type and is here shown asincluding inner and outer gathering sheets 22 and 23, which respectivelyhave generally vertical side portions 24 and 25 connected at their lowerends to a rearwardly and upwardly inclined bottom or butt pan 26. Theforward or lower end of the bottom 26 is rearwardly adjacentstalk-severing means which may include a knife or sickle 21 of any wellknown type. Gathering and forward- 7, ing devices operate within thepassage formed by the wall portions 24 and 25 and the inclined bottom26. These devices may include upper and lower gathering chains 28 and 29at the right hand side of the stalk passage and a similar pair of chainsat the left hand side of the passage, only the upper one of which isvisible at 30 in Figure 1.

The gathering sheets 22 and 23 are rather widely spaced apart at theirforward ends and converge rearwardly to the relatively narrow stalkpassage. The upper gathering chains extend forwardly of the lowergathering chains and the chains are driven at such relative speeds thatthe stalks are carried up the stalk passage with their butt ends down orriding on the butt pan or bottom 26. The upper chains terminate at theirupper ends a short distance forwardly of the upper ends of the lowerchains so that the butt ends of the stalks will be slightly advancedwith respect to the upper portions of the stalks at the rear or upperend of the stalk passage. The. stalk passage at this point merges intoor forms a junction with a feed throat 3| disposed ahead of the feederhouse I4. The throat Si is substantially co-extensive in width withrespect to the feeder house I4 but is substantially wider than therelatively narrow stalk passage defined by the gatherer unit portions24, 25 and 26. Consequently, when the stalks reach the upper end of thestalk passage, in which they were relatively confined, they may spreadout laterally to facilitate feeding to the mechanism in the feeder house[4. The means for receiving the stalks from the stalk passage and forultimately conveying same rearwardly to the mechanism in the reducinghousing 15 may be of any conventional construction and is here shown asincluding an upper feed roll 32 which operates above and in conjunctionwith a lower feeding means including a roller 33 and endless belt 34.

As stated above, the theoretical result that should be obtained when thestalks reach the end of the stalk passage and are delivered through thethroat 3! to the feeder house I4 is that the stalks should liehorizontally and longitudinally with their butt ends to the rear to bereceived between the feeder parts 32 and 34. However, because of thevariation in stalk length, a large percentage of stalks will not conformto this pattern and cause tangling and packing of the other stalks,leading ultimately to clogging of the feeding mechanism. It hasheretofore been proposed in some instances to place a permanentbarrieror obstacle across the feed throat Btto engage and retard the upper endsof stalks so that these upper ends will be pitched forwardly in trailingrelation to the leading butt ends. Although this expedient works well ininstances where the stalks are sufiiciently long to be engaged by suchbarrier, there was still the problem of handling the shorter stalks thatwould escape beneath such barrier. According to the present inventionthere is provided means forming a temporary or yieldable obstruction orbarrier in the feed throat of such size and so arranged as to controlthe feeding of all stalks regardless of length. The preferred form ofthis means as shown in the drawing comprises a retarder element in theform of a plate or door-like member 35 which is preferably constructedof sheet metal and is of rectangular shape, thus having substantialvertical and transverse dimensions and consequently being of suchsubstantial area as to provide a barrier at the junction of the stalkpassage and throat. The side sheets 22 and 23 of the gathering unit l3extend upwardly and provide portions 36 and 31, respectively, atopposite sides of the feed throat 3| substantially at the junctionbetween the feed throat and the stalk passage and at a substantialheight thereabove. The portions 36 and 3! are in transverse alignmentand carry a pair of transversely aligned bracket or bearing members 38which receive opposite ends of a transverse hinge pin 39. The retarderelement or door 35 depends from the axis of the hinge pin 39 to a pointrelatively close to the upper end of the inclined butt pan 26. The dooris preferably imperforate and its length and width are such that itsubstantially separates the stalk passage from the feed throat 3!.

The feed throat 3| is defined at opposite sides by side sheets 40 and4|, which are preferably rearward extensions respectively of thegatherer sheets 22 and 23. Each of the sheet portions 40 and 4| isprovided with an inwardly directed offset portion 42 (Figures 2 and 3)which forms a substantially horizontal ledge generally at the upper endof the stalk passage. The retarder door 35 is of such length that thelower portions thereof normally rest on the ledge, as at 43 (Figure 2).The plane of the door 35 is thus inclined at an acute angle to thehorizontal; or, at an angle substantially normal to the plane of thebutt pan 25. Since the hinge axis at 39 is forwardly of the lowerportion 43 the door 35 will, by virtue of its own weight, naturallyassume the full line position shown in Figure 2, the portions 42 and 43forming interengageable members for this purpose. Since the hinge axisprovides a yieldable mounting structure for the door, the door may swingrearwardly and upwardly, as indicated in broken lines in Figure 2.

In the operation of the harvester equipped with the retarder meansdescribed above, stalks or similar crops are gathered and severed in theusual manner and moved upwardly and rearwardly in the stalk passagedefined by the gatherer parts 24, 25 and 26. When the stalks reach theupper end of the passage they encounter the yieldable door 35. Thestalks are in generally upright position, butt ends down. as they travelup the stalk passage and the vertical extent of the door 35 is such thatit will engage short and tall stalks alike, thus deflecting the upperend portions of such stalks forwardly so that they trail the leadingbutt ends, whereby the stalks will be delivered butt ends first under orpast the door to the feeding mechanism parts 32 and 34. The weight ofthe door 35 will tend to depress the rear .end portions, orupper ends,of the stalks and the general result will be that the stalks aredelivered to the feeding mechanism while lying substantiallylongitudinally and horizontally according to the theoretical result tobe expected. The use of the door 35 makes the theoretical result anactual result in practice and proper feeding of the stalks through thefeeding mechanism is assured.

The construction of the retarder means is such that it may be readilyattached to machines of existing types, it being necessary only toprovide the door, hinge pin 39, and bearing brackets 38, and to mountthis structure as indicated above. Although the door here shown is ofimperforate construction 50 that it may be readily constructed of sheetmetal and so that it will have the necessary weight to provide theadequate retarding action on the stalks, it may obviously assume otherforms. Likewise, numerous other modifications and alterations may bemade in the preferred form of the invention illustrated Withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined in theappended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. In a row crop harvester adapted to be moved along a row of standingstalks and having frame structure and gathering mechanism includingstalk-severing means and a pair of laterally spaced and rearwardlyextendin side elements and a rearwardly extending bottom forming a stalkpassage through which severed stalks are moved butt ends down from thestalk severing means to a rearwardly disposed stalk-receiving meanshaving a feed throat forming a stalk-receiving junction with the stalkpassage: the improvement residing in means for controlling the deliveryof stalks butt ends first through the feed throat to the stalk-receivingmeans, comprising a retarder element extendin generally transversely andvertically into the feed throat substantially at the junction of thestalk passage and feed throat and being of substantial area to form abarrier at the junction; and means hinging the retarder element at anupper portion thereof for longitudinal swinging toward and away from thefeed throat, including a transverse hinge axis disposed at a substantialheight above the general level of the stalk passage bottom.

2. The invention defined in claim 1, further characterized in that:means are provided including interengageable members on the retarderelement and the harvester frame structure for limitin forward swingingof said retarder element.

3. In a row crop harvester adapted to be moved along a row of standingstalks and having frame structure and gathering mechanism includingstalk-severing means and a pair of laterally spaced and rearwardlyextending generally vertical side walls and a rearwardly extendingbottom forming a stalk passage in which are located generally verticallyspaced upper and lower stalk-moving chains by means of which severedstalks are moved butt ends down from the stalkseverin means to arearwardly disposed stalkreceiving means having a feed throat forming astalk-receiving junction with the stalk passage: the improvementresiding in means for controlling the delivery of stalks butt ends firstthrough the feed throat to the stalk-receiving means, comprising aretarder element extending generally transversely across the junction ofthe stalk passage and feed throat; and further extending vertically froma lower portion generally at the level of the lower stalk-moving chainto an upper portion disposed at a height substantially above the generallevel of the upper stalk-moving chain; and means hinging the retarderelement at an upper portion thereof for longitudinal swinging toward andaway from the feed throat, including a transverse hinge extendingthrough the upper portion of said retarder element and carried on thestalk passage side walls.

4. In a crop-gathering machine having a frame structure adapted to bemoved over the ground, including crop-gathering means and meansincluding a crop passage for moving gathered crops rearwardly to acrop-receiving means having a feed throat forming a crop.

receiving junction with said passage: a cropretarder attachmentcomprising a, transverse, upwardly extending element of substantialvertical and transverse dimensions swingably carried at an upper portionthereof by the frame structure on a transverse mounting structure abovethe junction of the crop passage and throat and depending into the feedthroat substantially at said junction to dispose a lower portion thereoffor rearward yielding in the path of crops moving from said passage tosaid throat.

5. In a crop-gathering machine having a frame structure adapted to bemoved over the ground to gather crops therefrom and including a pair oflaterally spaced side portions and a rearwardly and upwardly inclinedbottom por-- tion defining a crop passage along which crops are movedupwardly and rearwardly to a cropreceiving means having a feed throatforming a crop-receiving junction with said passage: the improvementresiding in crop control means, comprising a door-like element carriedon a hinge axis disposed transversely of the feed throat substantiallyat the junction thereof with the crop passage and at a substantialheight above-said junction said element extending substantially acrossthe throat generally at said junction and depending from said hinge axisnormally at a rearward and downward inclination to the crop passagebottom portion but yieldable rearwardly about said hinge axis.

6. In a crop-gathering machine having a frame structure adapted to bemoved over the ground to gather crops therefrom and including a pair oflaterally spaced side portions and a rearwardly and upwardly inclinedbottom portion defining a crop passage along which crops are movedupwardly and rearwardly to a crop-receiving means having a feed throatforming a crop-receiving junction with said passage: the improvementresiding in crop control means, comprising a yielding barrier elementdisposed across the feed throat substantially at the junction of saidthroat and the crop passage and having a lower portion proximate to thegeneral plane of the crop passage bottom and extending in its normalposition forwardly. and upwardly at an acute angle to the horizontal toan upper portion at a substantial height above said plane; and meansmounting said element on a portion of the machine structure for rearwardyielding of the element in response to pressure of crops moving from thecrop passage to the feed throat and for return of said element to itsnormal position.

7. In a row crop harvester adapted to be moved along a row of standingstalks and having frame structure including stalk-severing means and apair of laterally spaced side walls and a rearwardly and upwardlyinclined bottom wall which defines a rearwardly and upwardly inclinedpassage along which stalks are moved butt ends down, from thestalk-severing means 'to a stalkreceiving means disposed rearwardly ofthe stalk passage and having a feed throat providing a stalk-receivingjunction with said passage: the improvement residing in means forcontrolling the delivery of stalks butt ends first throughthe feedthroat to the receiving means, comprising'a door-like element carried ona hinge axis disposed transversely of the feed throat substantially at10 said hinge axis normally at a rearward and down- 15 1,172,114

ward inclination to the stalk passage bottom portion but yieldablerearwardly about said hinge axis.

JAMES REX WEST.

REFERENCES CITED 'The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 906,868 Gasser Dec. 15, 1908063,270 Blakley July 5, 1910 1,041,205 Vraalstad Oct. 15, 1912 DebakerFeb. 15, 1916

